Thursday, November 22, 2007

Isn’t it curious how much our taste for things changes over the years?

I was thinking about it the other day, while watching “Friends”. I used to love that sitcom, wouldn’t miss it for the world. Now, I don’t find it funny anymore. I watched two episodes, one right after the other – not a single laugh.

As a kid, my favorite flavor was chocolate. I loved chocolate cake, chocolate cookies, chocolate ice cream… A while later, back in my teenage years, I started my love affair with citrus flavors. And that love has grown stronger and stronger.

These cookies were on my "to try" list forever and I’m glad I finally made them – they’re irresistible! Believe me, you won’t be able to have only one, no matter how hard you try.

I borrowed Nicole’s recipe and used lime instead of lemon - the result was really good. I want to make them again, next time using lemons like she did.

Prepare lemon sugar: In a mini food processor, blend ½ cup (100g) sugar with 1 teaspoon lime zest. Pulse several times until the zest is incorporated into the sugar. Put sugar mixture in a shallow bowl and stir lightly with a fork to break up any clumps. Set aside.

Prepare cookie dough: In a medium bowl, sift together flour, salt, cream of tartar and baking soda. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter and remaining 1 ½ cups (300g) sugar. Blend in eggs, one at a time then add vanilla, lime juice, and remaining lime zest. Add flour mixture, one cup at a time, blending well after each addition, until all flour is incorporated.

Refrigerate dough for one hour.

Preheat oven to 175ºC/350ºF and line 2 baking sheets with waxed or baking paper.

Shape the cookies: Shape one tablespoonful* of dough into a ball and roll in lime sugar. Place ball of dough on cookie sheet and press down lightly with the bottom of a glass until cookie is about 1.25cm (½ in) thick (mine were thinner) – it might help to press the glass first in the sugar then onto the dough, then it won’t stick. Repeat.

33 comments:

These sound and look really good. I wonder how they would taste with orange? I made a sugar cookie recipe recently with orange and it was pretty good, albeit subtle. With the zest in this recipe, I imagine the lime taste is pretty easy to pick out.

I know what you mean about the changing tastes. The same thing has happened to me the past few years with citrus. (And mushrooms! But I still hate olives...) I am definitely going to try these cookies!

I tried these and they are great- but I took them a couple steps further. I sprinkled just a few grains of kosher salt on each one before baking, then used the remaining lime sugar (with some lime juice) to make a glaze to drizzle over them after baking. I have decided that this version is actually a "margarita cookie"! The tiny bit of additional saltiness is really fun, though.

I made these tonight and they are absolutely amaaazing. Not too sweet at all. I used turbinado sugar to make the lime sugar that coated the cookies so that it had a coarser texture and more pronounced look. Easy, simple, and perfect.

Well, I am a year or two late, but I wanted to let you know I made these today! They are completely amazing. I only had two small limes, so lots of juice and not much zest. I only had enough zest for the lime sugar and none to put in the cookies so I doubled the amount of juice, added a couple tbl of flour to help with the extra liquid, and refrigerated the dough for about three hours (and only took out enough for each tray as I was ready for it).

They spread a lot, perhaps because of the extra juice, but they are great! Looking forward to trying them closer to your recipe next time. I know they are going to be a hit at this picnic either way. Thanks!

If someone else wants to make them GF, here are some things I learned:

*Metal baking pan results weren't that good. A baking stone yielded MUCH better results. The baking/parchment paper was also very important--the cookies were crumbly when warm, so the best way to cool the cookies was to gently pull the whole paper onto the cooling rack.

I made these cookies using vegetable oil instead of butter because my son is allergic to milk. They came out fantastic. I substituted 1 cup of oil for the 1 cup of butter. I also added 1/4 cup plain, unsweetened soymilk (milk free baking tends to be dry). The cookies are excellent! Definitely use parchment paper though, butter-free cookies tend to stick. These slid off the parchment without trouble though.

Thank you for such an amazing recipe! I just made this recipe yesterday. I love these cookies! I love how light they are and how the lime zest gives them a kick! I have post about it on my own blog, if you would like to see. My blog is called D.I.Y. Culinary School (www.diyculinaryschool.com).